DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang is on mission to end the political careers of young and able Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates, charged Perak Menteri Besar Tajol Rosli Ghazali today.

He said Lim frequently moved from one state to another in order to get elected to Parliament but in the process, he had "killed" the future of many upcoming politicians.

"From Melaka, he went to Petaling Jaya where he killed off one up and coming MCA leader. He then went to Penang to get rid of the chief minister there and now he is doing the same thing in the Kinta Valley," he was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

He claimed that the DAP chairperson was not bothered about the welfare of the people in the constituencies he was contesting in, unlike BN candidates who were mostly locals and knew the area and the people well.

Lim, 63, who lost both the parliament and state seats he contested in 1999 in Penang, is now standing against incumbent Thong Fah Chong, 47 in Ipoh Timor.

Fear factor

Tajol Rosli (left) said Lim was afraid to contest in Penang because of the huge influence of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is defending his Kepala Batas seat there.

On DAP's accusation that Perak MCA chief Ong Ka Chuan aimed to destroy the political career of the opposition's party Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan, he said Lim's action had led to that.

"When YB Fong announced last year that she was quitting, Lim looked set to replace her in Batu Gajah. But when Ong announced that he would go there to face Lim, the DAP chairperson didn't want to take the gamble and ran to Ipoh Timor.

"In fact, Lim is the one who is actually out to finish off Fong's political career," he said.

The menteri besar said it would be a great loss to the state if Thong and Ong lost in the election as they had contributed significantly to the development and well-being of Perak and its people.

He said the MCA, particularly its leaders in Perak, was instrumental in bringing Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) to Kampar which is set to become the catalyst for the economic growth of the state, especially the Kinta Valley.

"These are the kinds of leaders who look after the interests of the people in Perak. If they lose, it will be a pity because Lim will not be able to contribute to the development of the state like the MCA leaders are doing now," he added.

Last Friday, Lim had refuted the claim that he was moving from Penang because he was afraid and described it as more of a political strategy.

"In the last 35 years, I have move from incumbent parliamentary seats four times and state seats three times. It was not to go for an easier seat but to reach greater political height," he told malaysiakini.

"We (DAP) want to make Perak our second frontline state and Ipoh Timor is the launching pad for Kinta Valley's three parliamentary and nine state seats which we are targeting to be the bastion for freedom of democracy and clean governance," he had said.

Hadi slammed

In another development, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak took a swipe at PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for saying he would abolish laws forbidding character assassinations during election campaigning if his party formed the government.

He described the statement as being overboard and added that it should not have been made by a leader.

Najib said he disagreed with the view as embarrassing a person in public was a sin and was against the customs and traditions of the society.

"Condemning a person in a election campaign is also an offence under the Election Act," he was quoted in a Bernama report.

Commenting on accusations by opposition parties that BN was playing money politics to enable its candidates to win uncontested, he said: "They can accuse all sorts of things but actually opposition party candidates are forced to contest and they are only waiting for the right time to withdraw."

"Following their withdrawals, BN candidates have won several parliamentary and state seats unopposed throughout the country," he added.

The ruling front has already bagged 16 parliamentary and 11 state seats without any contest.

On PAS' manifesto, Najib said the party "played different tunes to different target groups."

He added the party wanted to build a country according to its own mould but its leaders spoke differently to different races.